That's what he said, anyway, at Monday's Sandusky City Commission meeting.

He was talking about a plan to transfer the duties of laid-off employees to other departments, "three or four months down the road" which the commission had discussed previously, despite protestations from commissioners Dan Kaman and Pervis Brown they had never heard of such a plan.

So help us, we don't know what's worse: A "plan" two of seven say they never heard of, other than vague ideas tossed around, or Stahl saying he did so tell them all, and would tell them again -- once the inconvenient press and public were out of the way.

Here we'll just copy and paste a passage from a previous editorial, because given the monotony of Stahl's dodging, we don't feel like wasting even the minimal creativity it would take to recast the sentence:

"Because those making the decisions on our behalf -- the job we hired them to do -- won't trust us with the knowledge of what they're doing, it becomes easier to distrust them." (Sandusky Register, March 11, 2009)

Blather, wince, repeat.

What's the cost of the Nuesse hearings?

Dunno. Can't say.

What's the plan for the layoffs/transfer of duties/whatever?

Can't say.

Good grief, Stahl -- what are you afraid of? Afraid of what might be said once city employees realize they're on the chopping block with nothing to lose and no reason to clam up about the way things are done at 222 Meigs St.? Well, if this mysterious and nebulous "plan" doesn't loosen tongues -- we're listening, by the way, and so are a couple other interested parties -- we don't know what will.

So chaos will ensue at city hall if the plan's discussed in public? And how does that differ from what's there, already?

If by "chaos" you mean people speaking their minds without reservation, we say let it begin.